How do you not metagame?

HDHaZmY

Hello fellow forumers!

My question is quite simple, yet I feel the answer to it is hard, or at least I haven't been able to really find my own way to doing it without breaking my immerson.

How do you all, who have played these games over multiple times, just not metagame or munchkin as you say?

I've read all the posts about the no reload challenge runs and they all have the do not metagame rule.

I am not asking how you not do all your tricks and how do you not just get all the items that you know exist, I am rather interested about what your techniques are to...not break the immersion of your run?
How do you not metagame, and maintain the natural feeling of your playthrough and keep it fun?
How do you simulate a blind run again?

Interested to hear everone's opinions on this!

semiticgoddess

I don't think it's really possible, at least not 100%. There are some ways of avoiding certain kinds of metagaming, like avoiding pre-buffing, only pre-buffing after scouting, or focusing more heavily on roleplaying, but I don't think it's possible to avoid using all of one's metaknowledge. You're very unlikely to rush right into the Firewine Ruins with a small, low-level party after you've tried it once before.

Item Randomizer is a good way to restrict metagaming, as you won't be able to go grab your favorite items, since they'll be moved around.

Myrag

I don't lay traps in places where I know ambush will happen.

deltago

Everytime I am about to restart a game I get someone to hit me over the head with a mallet. Brain damage works the best.

Serious note: I always take a different path towards whatever plot point I am working towards.

I never do a complete run and I tend to explore areas I might have forgotten about.

I never prebuff (unless I was forced to reload).

I also take large hiatuses between play throughs.

Certain things are very difficult to forget, but most of it can still come as a surprise with enough time and brain damage.

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ThacoBell

Whenever I consider a decision, its from my charname's point of view. I might think to myself, "The stupifier is right in that drawer, an early, free magical weapon is great." But I don't get it unless it makes sense for my Charname to poke around in there. Its the same way with items I pick up or characters I recruit. I don't hold into items unless my current party can make use of it, even if I plan on recruiting an npc later and plan on having them use said item, I go back and re buy it later, when its useful.

I don't bee line for npcs or certain quests either. I do things in the order it makes sense for my PC to do. I don't beeline over to get Viconia, even though she is close, because my charname has no way of knowing an ally is there.

dunbar

I find that if I RP as someone I know well (e.g. a friend or work colleague) and attribute their stats, alignment and personal traits I can really play the game as that person - which most importantly means that I know they've never played the game before, so I just let them do what I think they would do without any pre-knowledge. This way I'm really more of an observer than a puppet master.

FinneousPJ

Substance abuse

Myrag

I like to think that CHARNAME has visions due to his bhaalspawn powers which allows him to see in near future. This allows me to lie to myself that I don't metagame at all.

semiticgoddess

Or play a Diviner, and justify it by saying Charname uses divination spells between fights.

Kamigoroshi

Each time you boot the game, set its language to one you can't understand. And then roleplay that your CHARNAME speaks in tongues. And is madder than the hatter.

Worked for me 'til now.

semiticgoddess

@Kamigoroshi: That could actually get you killed in certain places in SoD and I think BG1. I think you get a game over if you don't use the right words with Belt at the Ducal Palace, and Thrix will instantly kill you if you accept his riddle and get it wrong.

Kamigoroshi

@semiticgod Don't worry, everything that kills my CHARNAME makes she/him feel alive.

OlvynChuru

There's a way to know about encounters ahead of time: have someone hide or turn invisible and have them scout ahead. This way, it's possible to know what enemies you'll be facing and how far you can go before they see you (so you can kill them from offscreen) without prior knowledge of enemy locations. I do this in my no-reloads.